Read the passage and answer the following questions.
Folk music is traditional melodies, words, and songs of the common people that are often handed down from one generation to the next. Folk music songs are related to almost every kind of human activity. Folk music often expresses the character of ethnic and social groups and sometimes a nation. A folk song can express political or religious beliefs, tell a story or describe history, or just provide amusement.
Folk music is usually learned by listening rather than by reading the notes or words. The music is shared from person to person, from place to place, and from generation to generation. Folk songs sometimes change either by accident or from a purposeful alteration. Folk song melodies and words often evolve over time. Tunes are shortened or lengthened, pitches and rhythms are altered, and portions of one song may be combined with part of another.
Folk songs can often be classified into different types. The ballad, a song that often tells a story about real events, is one of the main types of folk songs. Ballads are in stanza form, where a melody is repeated for each of several verses, and may have a refrain that is repeated several times. Another type of folk song is those that deal with a particular activity, occupation, or set of circumstances. This group includes work songs, prison songs and war songs. There are also spiritual songs, songs for children and songs about life’s stages.
What does folk music often express?